Alloa loanee Luke Rankin on his time at East Stirlingshire

The 19-year-old striker was sent to the neighbouring club to work under former Wasp Pat Scullion in August and has since lit the Lowland League on fire.

The youngster ended the season with 23 goals and seven assists for his club, his first taste of being a starter in the senior game.

With the Lowland League having now ended, Rankin sat down with Advertiser Sport to discuss his time at East Stirling.

Firstly, looking back to the start of his Alloa career, Rankin came off the bench against Peterhead in August 2022, scoring the fifth goal just 11 minutes after coming on.

Promoted from the academy by Brian Rice, Rankin would go on to make 13 more appearances that season.

Heading into this season, he made two appearances off the bench in the League Cup campaign, against Stirling and Ayr.

Afterwards, the opportunity arose to go out on loan to East Stirling, with manager Scullion ensuring him that he would play a leading role in the team.

Rankin said: “I knew a few boys that had played at East Stirling before and when the gaffer, Pat, phoned me up, it seemed like a good fit.

“After he phoned me, I spoke to Andy Graham and he gave me a bit of advice and I didn’t want to spend another season on the bench.

“When the gaffer phoned me, he told me that the team was doing well but they didn’t have a striker that will score goals.

“He told me the number nine position was mine to lose. I was phoned on the Wednesday and then by the Thursday, it was already done.”

It didn’t take Rankin long to establish himself in the team either, getting his first assist in a 1-1 draw with Caledonian Braves.

He quickly followed that up with a first goal for the club against Cumbernauld Colts, but it was the week after that he really began to burst onto the scene, bagging a career first hat trick against Edinburgh University.

Rankin was thankful that he was able to settle in so quickly and began firing early on, which has only allowed his confidence to grow.

He said: “Joining that kind of team is a lot easier when everyone’s your own age and they’ve got a bit of experience in it as well.

“All the older guys in the team are good, experienced pros and the gaffer is right in with the boys, it was quite easy to settle in and it was good to get off the mark quickly.

“I came off the bench after someone got injured in my first game, got an assist, then a goal and then a hat trick in my first few appearances.

“It was good to know I was good enough to play at that level, it helped me settle in and the boys began to trust me after I was doing well.

“It was definitely a confidence boost, more proving to myself that I can play at that level rather than thinking I can.

“That builds confidence, definitely.”

Rankin kicked on from there and received plenty of plaudits along the way.

His goalscoring form began to catch the eye of clubs across the country, as well as the Alloa fans who were delighted to see the youngster kick on.

His biggest return was against Celtic B as he scored four goals against the Hoops academy side in a 6-4 win for his side.

His second hat trick came against Hearts B, another academy side Rankin has dispatched with ease.

The striker hailed the Lowland League’s level, praising the challenge experienced in some of the games.

He continued: “This has been my first real taste of playing men’s football every week, I’d spent last season in and about the team and came on if we had injuries.

“But this is my first experience of being an important part of a squad in the men’s game.

“It’s been good for me, I’ve enjoyed it. It’s definitely more challenging, you get games where you get kicked about by older, experienced pros but that’s what you’ve got to learn in the men’s game.

“It’s all a learning curve for me and I think over the season, it’s definitely improved my game.

“Playing men’s football is completely different to youth football or coming off the bench last season.

“Playing week in and week out allows me to figure out the best ways to beat an opponent or how I’m going to score against a team.

“We’ve got different teams in this league – some are more footballing teams and there’s some where you don’t see the ball for 20 minutes.

“It’s all about building your repertoire and learning how I’m going to score goals this week compared to next and building upon it from there.”

In terms of his overall game, Rankin cites former Kelty Hearts striker Matt Flynn in helping him improve his physicality.

While admitting he is not the biggest, Rankin has worked on using his body to make things difficult for a defender and praised East Stirling’s squad for helping him improve.

“There’s definitely a few things I’ve learned here,” Rankin said. “Matt Flynn is a striker at the club and he’s an older guy.

“He’s helped me a lot and spoke to me about using my body – I’m not the biggest guy, I’m not going to be able to bully defenders – but he’s helped me learn how to make it awkward for them and take the ball off them.

“I’ve learned a lot from players here about my positioning – teaching me where to be in the box and when I’m attacking.”

Overall, as far as loan spells go, there can’t be many more successful than Rankin’s.

He finished the season as East Stirlingshire’s top scorer, earned their Player’s Player of the Year award and also landed a place in the SLFL Team of the Season.

With his loan at East Stirlingshire now ended, he will look to return to Alloa and aims to get a new deal signed and nail down a place in the club as soon as he can.

He added: “When I had that conversation before going out on loan, it was very much a case of improving aspects of my game that I can only learn by playing regular football.

“Hopefully, I’ve now got that experience of playing against men week in, week out and I know what will work for me and won’t work for me now.

“When you go out on loan, the aim is to gain enough experience, come back and be good enough for your parent club.

“My hope is I’ll be offered a new deal and then come pre-season, I’ll be good, fit and firing enough goals in the League Cup and can then see how much I play.”